The Lions Test selection is going to be crucial for next Saturday’s showdown in Sydney.

This is where Warren Gatland and his Lions coaching staff will really be tested after Saturday’s second Test defeat in Melbourne.

The fitness of captain Sam Warburton will be the first factor and we will find out his diagnosis today after he limped off with a hamstring injury.

What the second Test defeat in Melbourne showed was they definitely need ball-carriers and you could see the likes of Jamie Roberts and Mike Phillips if fit, and Toby Faletau coming into the Test team.

So, too, maybe even players like Sean O’Brien and Manu Tuilagi who can get over the gain line.

I expect Gatland to pick his biggest front-five to try and get that forward advantage back and try and utilise the northern hemisphere referee, Frenchman Roman Poite, in the scrums.

What we will see is Gatland going back to a clever kicking game and sending big guns down the middle and then see what happens after that.

In Melbourne, I just thought the Australians were smarter than the Lions especially in the scrums.

They targeted Mako Vunipola and they always asked questions of him in the front-row.

The Wallabies started strongly in the set-piece and the Lions came back and it descended into a bit of a lottery after that.

What it did though was nullify one of the Lions’ strongest elements and that was a big plus for the Australians.

One of the other major differences between the two sides again was again Will Genia because he ensured the home side kept possession and continually asked questions of the Lions defence.

They also took the one opportunity that came their way which led to the only try of the match.

I am a big fan of James O’Connor and he delivered when it mattered at outside-half.

He has had a lot of criticism and questions about whether he should play at 10 for the Australians but he showed in one incident what a class attacking player he is and how important that can be.

Up to that point O’Connor had not done much in creating and running the game for Australia because that had been left to his half-back partner Genia.

But what he did in the build-up to Adam Ashley-Cooper’s try, was hold up the ball to the last possible minute and fix Lions centre Jonathan Davies before putting the Australian centre through the gap.

But O’Connor then showed the other side to his game straight after when he kicked directly into touch which gave the Lions a chance for victory but they lost the lineout.